Action Speaks Louder Than Words!

When we’re truly interested in learning how to improve the recruiting process in our organization, we need to be willing to commit to taking action quickly with potential candidates. If we prove unresponsive from the very beginning, some of the best potential team members may quickly get the impression that this is what they can expect even after they join the company. When we paint a great picture of all the opportunities we can provide but don’t back it with the action to match, all our effort crafting that message can be lost.

Before we go deeper into that though, let’s circle back to something from the last post. I mentioned how smaller companies often need team members to develop quickly since each person represents a larger percentage of the total. This can have a significant impact on career growth and retention, and ties very closely with improving the recruiting process. But when the management team in a bigger organization really accepts leadership responsibility and serves their team members this same way, news of this travels fast, in the company and throughout the surrounding community! I’m sure you can guess how that plays into recruiting strong candidates…

So why does taking action and being responsive matter in the recruiting process? In addition to sending a message as to what a candidate can expect after joining our team, we also need to be prepared to take action quickly if we want to have a real shot at even talking with the best candidates. In the odd scenario when someone with great talent is actually between jobs, it’s extremely unlikely that they will be for long. Sometimes waiting just a day or two after they’ve submitted their resume can result in missing any chance at all we had at speaking with them. When great folks are in the job market, that news typically travels fast. While they may not be hired immediately, it’s not uncommon for them to get multiple offers quickly. And if they're just testing the waters, hesitation on our part could be seen by them as a red flag.

Once we’ve developed a system for being responsive and taking prompt action in the initial conversations with our candidates, and we get really good at bringing excellent team members into our organizations, we can’t take our foot off the throttle! Promising growth and development sounds great in an interview but allowing that to take a backseat to the daily pressure of production can sour someone’s hope for advancement quickly. And being responsive can’t end with the orientation process. When team members have questions, concerns, or even ideas for process improvements, each person with leadership responsibility within our team needs to be as responsive! 

In each stage of the employment relationship, the action a leader takes, the way they respond to their team, and the priority they place on following through sends a message to each person around them. When this is done intentionally, that message builds a reputation that genuinely improves the recruiting process for our entire company. When our actions don’t match our words, that definitely impacts the recruiting process too, and each person on our team with any level of leadership responsibility plays a part in this! If you’d like to build a culture where attracting and retaining great team members becomes simple, you should reserve a spot the next time Cindy and I offer our complimentary webinar on How Top Leaders Set the Tone for Recruitment and Retention...